nit.jpg
Changing Location - government policies in the UK

Since 1945 the UK government has tried to encourage industry to move to areas of high unemployment. Over the years governments have tried to encourage new industris to reduce unemployment by:
  • industiral development certificates which control where a firm can locate
  • the creation of new towns in order to take work to the unemployed
  • providing 'advanced factories' and industrial estates with services already present (e.g. roads, electricity)
  • financial aid in the form of removal grants, rent-free periods, tax relief on new machinery, and reduced interest rates
  • decnetralising government offices
  • improving communications and accessibility
  • subsidies to keep firms going which otherwise would close down
  • retraining schemes
  • job creation, Manpower Creation Schemes (MCS) and Youth Training Schemes (YTS)
  • Enterprise Zones
  • assistance from the EU

Enterprise Zones (EZs)

The first EZs came into operation in 1981. They were planned for areas in acute physical and economic decay, with the aim of creating conditions for industrial and commercial revival by removing certain tax burdens and administrative controls. They tend to fall into two main groups:
  1. Old inner city areas where factories had closed, causing high unemployment, and where old houses had been pulled down and the land left derelict e.g. Isle of Dogs
  2. Towns that had relied upon one major industry which had been forced to close, e.g. Corby

Urban Development Corporations (UDCs)
UDCs were created by Act of Parliament in 1980. The first two, in London's Docklands and the Merseyside Development Corporation were set up in 1981. Eventually there were 13.

UDCs were an attempt by the government to rejuvenate areas often in the inner cities, which had undergone economic, social and environmental decay. Four of the main tasks were to:
  • reclaim and secure the development of derelict and unused land
  • provide land for industry, commerce, housing and leisure
  • build roads and improve the quality of the environment
  • encourage private investment to protect existing jobs and to create new ones
These tasks were financed jointly by private sector investment and public funds from both the British government and the EU

Trafford Park Development Corporation
In the 1980s there was concern over the decline of Trafford park, an area in Manchester.

Problems:
  • outdated infrastructure
  • lack of attractive development opportunities to encourage investment
  • social deprivation
Four areas were identified by the Development Corporation:
  • Village - 22ha. Former housing area in centre of Trafford Park. Seen as the thriving focal point of the new development area - houses and shops rejuvinated.
  • Wharfside - 39ha. Alongside Machester Ship Canal. Now a commercial development in an attractive waterside location
  • Trafford Centre - redeveloped to create a large regional shopping centre
  • Hadfield street - 12ha - an industrial improvement zone with some 125 small to medium-sized firms
*